Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure


Jerry Kaplan - 1995
    Startup tells the story of Kaplan's wild ride: how he assembled a brilliant but fractious team of engineers, software designers, and investors; pioneered the emerging market for hand-held computers operated with a pen instead of a keyboard; and careened from crisis to crisis without ever losing his passion for a revolutionary idea. Along the way, Kaplan vividly recreates his encounters with eccentric employees, risk-addicted venture capitalists, and industry giants such as Bill Gates, John Sculley, and Mitchell Kapor. And no one - including Kaplan himself - is spared his sharp wit and observant eye.

Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present


Allen Mikaelian - 2002
    military decoration, from the Civil War through the Vietnam War, and examines what drove them to go so far above and beyond the call of duty. Among the stories is an account of the life of the only woman ever to receive the medal; of an officer who staged a daring escape from a German POW camp in WWI; and of a soldier from the legendary WWII Japanese-American 442nd, who went on to earn the medal in the Korean War. The book tells not only of astonishing military actions but also, significantly, of the recipients' lives before and after their wartime experiences.In his moving commentary, acclaimed 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace places these actions in historical context and relates his own personal experiences in WWII and as a journalist covering recent wars. He also meditates on the meaning of courage and shows what we can all learn from these extraordinary individuals."The President may award, and present in the name of Congress, a medal of honor of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to a person who, while a member of the Army, Navy, or Air Force distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." --The United States Congress

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong


James R. Hansen - 2005
    Armstrong become the first person to step on the surface of another heavenly body. Perhaps no words in human history became better known than those few he uttered at that historic moment. In a penetrating exploration of American hero worship, Hansen addresses the complex legacy of the First Man, as an astronaut and an individual.

Masterminds of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming Languages


Federico BiancuzziJohn Hughes - 2009
    In this unique collection, you'll learn about the processes that led to specific design decisions, including the goals they had in mind, the trade-offs they had to make, and how their experiences have left an impact on programming today. Masterminds of Programming includes individual interviews with:Adin D. Falkoff: APL Thomas E. Kurtz: BASIC Charles H. Moore: FORTH Robin Milner: ML Donald D. Chamberlin: SQL Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan: AWK Charles Geschke and John Warnock: PostScript Bjarne Stroustrup: C++ Bertrand Meyer: Eiffel Brad Cox and Tom Love: Objective-C Larry Wall: Perl Simon Peyton Jones, Paul Hudak, Philip Wadler, and John Hughes: Haskell Guido van Rossum: Python Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo and Roberto Ierusalimschy: Lua James Gosling: Java Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson, and James Rumbaugh: UML Anders Hejlsberg: Delphi inventor and lead developer of C# If you're interested in the people whose vision and hard work helped shape the computer industry, you'll find Masterminds of Programming fascinating.

How an iPhone Made Me the Youngest Billionaairee


K SARAFF - 2015
    Based on a true story where the author incurs many failures in life but believes that failure comes to those who deserve something bigger. He continuously fails in many entrepreneurial ventures but his attitude towards great sayings keeps him going. Despite not having the best of qualifications, he defies the rule and the common notion that only qualified make it large. Common beliefs of the masses have been challenged at every point.The mention of the business ventures he undertakes while in college and the problems solved by his early philosophical knowledge. Despite being discouraged by the non-entrepreneurial environment, he dares to rise against the wind. He has done something worth writing and written something worth reading! "Awesome book. Very well written. I recommend this book to every teenager as it would surely transform their lives and it will help them to create opportunities for themselves. We need young entrepreneurs in India."- Verified Purchase on Amazon.in"Amazing book.. i have no words in praise of this book..everyone should read this.. must read for everyone..i assure you, this will change your life.." Verified Purchase on Amazon.inAbout The AuthorK Sraff is an entrepreneur. He has undertaken various profit, non-profit ventures, most of which have been mentioned in the book. He has highlighted on a philosophy that "When you help others, the universe conspires to help you...!" which also sets the core theme of the book. How an iPhone Made Me the Youngest Billionaairee has sold thousands of copies in India and abroad. Widely appreciated with over 200+ ratings in Goodreads, 100+ reviews on Amazon. The book speaks not just about dreams, change, but urges the readers to implement what they conceive!

Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel


Richard Moore - 2013
    Leading cycling writer Richard Moore's profile of Dave Brailsford, the head of Team Sky and the man who masterminded the British Cycling revolution, gives a unique insight into the psychology of one of the most fascinating figures in world sport.

Masters of Enterprise: Giants of American Business from John Jacob Astor and J.P. Morgan to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey


H.W. Brands - 1999
    Each generation has produced one or two phenomenally successful leaders, often in new industries that caught contemporaries by surprise, and each of these new fortunes reconfirmed the power of fanatically single-minded visionaries. John Jacob Astor and Cornelius Vanderbilt were the first American moguls; John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan were kingpins of the Gilded Age; David Sarnoff, Walt Disney, Ray Kroc, and Sam Walton were masters of mass culture. Today Oprah Winfrey, Andy Grove, and Bill Gates are giants of the Information Age. America has again and again been the land of dizzying mountains of wealth. Here, in a wittily told and deeply insightful history, is a complete set of portraits of America's greatest generators of wealth. Only such a collective study allows us to appreciate what makes the great entrepreneurs really tick. As H. W. Brands shows, these men and women are driven, they are focused, they deeply identify with the businesses they create, and they possess the charisma necessary to persuade other talented people to join them. They do it partly for the money, but mostly for the thrill of creation.The stories told here -- including how Nike got its start as a business-school project for Phil Knight; how Robert Woodruff almost refused to take control of Coca-Cola to spite his father; how Thomas Watson saved himself from prison by rescuing Dayton, Ohio, from a flood; how Jay Gould nearly cornered the gold market; how H. L. Hunt went from gambling at cards to gambling with oilleases -- make for a narrative that is always lively and revealing and often astonishing. An observer in 1850, studying John Jacob Astor, would not have predicted the rise of Henry Ford and the auto industry. Nor would a student of Ford in 1950 have anticipated the takeoff of direct marketing that made Mary Kay Ash a trusted guide for millions of American women. Full of surprising insights, written with H. W. Brands's trademark flair, the stories in "Masters of Enterprise" are must reading for all students of American business history.

Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth


Carol Felsenthal - 1988
    Here is both the delightful and the dark sides of her life.

Coach: The A. L. Williams Story


Art Williams - 2006
    Williams and it "ragtag army of part-timers" took on a Goliath-sezed insurance industry.

Ford: The Men and the Machine


Robert Lacey - 1986
    Now Robert Lacey has captured in one volume the public achievements and the private tragedies, the feuds, affairs, and personalities that make up this epic tale.Ford is above all the story of a handful of powerful individuals whose ambitions have helped shape modern American society:Henry Ford I, the founder, one of history's great figures, whose legendary achievements - the Model T, the moving assembly line, the Five Dollar Day, the Peace Ship - and down-home folk wisdom are recounted in school civics courses. Here for the first time Lacey reveals the extraordinarily complex and contradictory man behind the public icon Henry Ford was at once a dedicated pacifist and a war profiteer; a champion of the rights of minorities and a virulent anti-Semite; a dedicated family man who supported a mistress and an illegitimate son; a loving father who hounded and bullied his only legitimate son intoan early grave.

Not Much of an Engineer


Stanley Hooker - 1984
    So successful was he that in 1966 Rolls-Royce decided the best thing to do was to spend 63.6 million pounds and buy its rival. By this time there was scarcely a single modern British aero-engine for which Hooker had not been responsible.

Steinheist: Markus Jooste, Steinhoff & SA's biggest corporate fraud


Rob Rose - 2018
    When this investors’ darling was exposed as a house of cards, tales of fraudulent accounting, a lavish lifestyle involving multimillion-rand racehorses and ructions in the ‘Stellenbosch mafia’ made headlines around the world. As regulators tally up the cost, 'Financial Mail' editor Rob Rose reveals the real inside story behind Steinhoff. Based on dozens of interviews with key players in South Africa, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands – and documents not yet public – Steinheist reveals: how Bruno Steinhoff formed the company by doing business in the Communist bloc and apartheid South Africa; how the ‘Markus myth’ started in the dusty streets of Ga-Rankuwa and grew thanks to a ‘bit of luck’ in a 1998 takeover; how Jooste insiders shifted nasty liabilities off Steinhoff’s balance sheet to secretive companies overseas in order to present a false picture of the profits; how Wiese was lucky to lose only R59bn and how Shoprite narrowly escaped getting caught in Steinhoff’s web; and what happened behind closed boardroom doors in the frantic week before Jooste resigned.

Björk: Wow and Flutter


Mark Pytlik - 2000
    Contains a detailed songbook and over 30 exclusive interviews with Björk's associates, family members, and industry professionals.

Unbreakable Dolls


Julie McDonald - 2011
    From Harvey Girls to homesteaders, ranchers to rodeo champions, and miners to merchants, to name a few. An enjoyable, inspiring quick read including humorous short stories written by the author’s father, Verner G. Benson about early days in Arizona. Settings include Flagstaff, Williams, Oak Creek Canyon, Jerome, Sedona, Roosevelt Dam, Cottonwood, Tonalea (Navajo Reservation), Valle, Kirkland Junction and Grand Canyon.

Colonel Sanders and the American Dream


Josh Ozersky - 2012
    But only one of them was ever a real person—Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken/KFC. From a 1930s roadside café in Corbin, Kentucky, Harland Sanders launched a fried chicken business that now circles the globe, serving “finger lickin’ good” chicken to more than twelve million people every day. But to get there, he had to give up control of his company and even his own image, becoming a mere symbol to people today who don’t know that Colonel Sanders was a very real human being. This book tells his story—the story of a dirt-poor striver with unlimited ambition who personified the American Dream.Acclaimed cultural historian Josh Ozersky defines the American Dream as being able to transcend your roots and create yourself as you see fit. Harland Sanders did exactly that. Forced at age ten to go to work to help support his widowed mother and sisters, he failed at job after job until he went into business for himself as a gas station/café/motel owner and finally achieved a comfortable, middle-class life. But then the interstate bypassed his business and, at sixty-five, Sanders went broke again. Packing his car with a pressure cooker and his secret blend of eleven herbs and spices, he began peddling the recipe for “Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken” to small-town diners in exchange for a nickel for each chicken they sold. Ozersky traces the rise of Kentucky Fried Chicken from this unlikely beginning, telling the dramatic story of Sanders’ self-transformation into “The Colonel,” his truculent relationship with KFC management as their often-disregarded goodwill ambassador, and his equally turbulent afterlife as the world’s most recognizable commercial icon.